Sue Scheible is a staff reporter for The Patriot Ledger who writes a weekly column, A Good Age, about life after 50. In her blog, she shares extra anecdotes about the people she meets, readers' e-mails, videos, photos and phone messages, and ideas
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Sue Scheible is a staff reporter for The Patriot Ledger who writes a weekly column, A Good Age, about life after 50. In her blog, she shares extra anecdotes about the people she meets, readers' e-mails, videos, photos and phone messages, and ideas for what to do in retirement or to prepare for retirement. Sometimes she just likes to share what she's doing that is fun and engaging, often in videos or photos, or my family situations. She may explore her reactions to issues of aging and pass along good information for family members and caregivers. This is also a good place to recognize some of the many dedicated people who work in the elder services and geriatric care field.

Mildred MacNeil of Kingston has developed a telephone friendship over the past six years with her 'Comcast man,' Matt Alves.

I learned about this sweet friendship last week when I was at MacNeil's 92nd birthday party at Wingate at Silver Lake in Kingston.

Alves, 37, showed up to surprise MacNeil, after she sent him an invitation to the party she was throwing for herself.

The two had never met.

Alves told me that six years ago, he received a letter from MacNeil, out of the blue, after she got his name from another Comcast employe. She had a cable service problem that no one had been able to really help her with and Alves got on the case and found a solution.

After that, MacNeil wrote or called Alves whenever she had a question about her cable TV service. He is in sales but that didn't stop him from providing help.

They began exchanging letters, and then she sent him some photos, and one holiday season, they sent each other small gifts, coincidentally, by surprise. He didn't hear from her for months last year and worried she was gone; she was sick after the loss of her husband of 65 years and unable to reach out.

Then, once she recovered her spirits and her health, she got back in touch. Alves was greatly relieved.

"I fell in love with this sweet little old lady and I wanted to meet her," Alves said.

"You're so young!" MacNeil exclaimed when she saw him.

One more bit of fun: when Mildred learned ahead of time that the story would appear in Tuesday's Ledger, she called the store manager at a Stop and Shop in Kingston, having gotten his name, and when he came to the phone, she asked "Is this the handsome son of Mrs. (his last name)?" Alves responded, when told the story, "Of course she did that, classic!"

Naturally, Comcast is super proud of Matt Alves. "We appreciate and applaud Matt for going above and beyond to help Mildred MacNeil address her needs and questions over the years," Marc Goodman of Comcast emailed.